Component for use in making decorative structures

ABSTRACT

THIS INVENTION RELATES TO A NEW COMPONENT FOR USE IN MAKING DECORATIVE STRUCTURES WHICH CONSISTS OF A THIN SHEET HAVING CURVED PEIPHERAL EDGES DEFINING A PLURALITY OF LOBES SYMMETRICALLY POSITIONED ABOUT A CENTRAL POINT. THE EDGES OF THE LOBES ARE SO NOTCHED THAT A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL SHEETS CAN BE HOOKED TOGETHER TO FROM A DECORATIVE STRUCTURE.

F b. 9, 1911 I RRA A 3,562,077

COMPONENT FOR USE IN MAKING DECORATIVE STRUCTURES Filed oct; 25, 1967 '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 9, 1971 R B 3,562,077

COMPONENT FOR USE IN MAKING DECORATIVE STRUCTURES Filed Oct. 25, 1967 3 Shets-Sheet 2 FeB.'9, 1971 RABA 562,077

COMPONENT FOR USE IN MAKING DECORATIVE STRUCTURES Filed Oct. 25,, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5

United States Patent 0 Int. Cl. A47 35/00 US. Cl. 161-14 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a new component for use in making decorative structures which consists of a thin sheet having curved peripheral edges defining a plurality of lobes symmetrically positioned about a central point. The edges of the lobes are so notched that a plurality of individual sheets can be hooked together to form a decorative structure.

Modern industry has developed an interest in components from which decorative devices for architectural purposes can be made. Many different items are already on the market which may be used to decorate walls, ceilings, doors, and the panels of furniture, as well as to make partitioned off nooks, or make chandeliers.

The present invention relates to a new type of component which is particularly usefulin making chandeliers and/or lampshades. The invention also includes within its scope the chandeliers made from such components.

In general terms, the component according to the invention is a thin flat sheet member, the periphery of which is divided into alternating concave and convex segments, and provided with notches in both the convex and concave segments, at least two groups of two notches on a single sheet being separated by the same distance.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each member has several groups of three notches, the two notches at opposite ends of each group being separated from th middle notch by the same distance, so that the middle notch cooperates equally well with either of the end notches.

An assembly comprising several members is made by engaging two adjacent notches on a convex segment of one member in two adjacent notches on a concave segment of another member.

In one specific embodiment of the invention it is possible to eliminate one of the notches of a pair of notches carried by one member. In this case the several members are held together partly by the interengagernent of two notches and partly because the notchless edges of the members are held together by their position in the assembly.

The member according to the invention is thin, flat and flexible, and its silhouette defines several similar hooked lobes which are symmetrically disposed with respect to a single point, each lobe being provided with notches in its edges, said notches being positioned opposite each other along a line intersecting the curved edge of the lobe. This shape makes it possible for several .members of this type to be hooked together, their flexibility being sufficient to permit the notches of one member to engage in the notches of another, and thus formed into an assembly without using fasteners. The shape of the hooks and the position of the notches may be so calculated that the surface of each member curves in several directions when the assembly has been completed and so that the structure which has been thus formed from thin flat members is in relief, and composed of curved surfaces which form geometric shapes in space. The fact that th 3,562,077 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 members can bend in a plurality of directions when the assembly is complete constitutes an important feature of the invention.

The assembly is made according to a pattern of juxtaposed polygons and one of two types of structure is obtained, depending on the number of sides of the polygons.

In a first case the structure may be a closed polyhedron. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, such structures are suitable for use as chandeliers, with the light source positioned inside the polyhedron.

In a second case the structures are essentially flat and form panels which may be used as such, or rolled into cylinders for use as lamp shades or the like.

Compound structures combining both types of structure may also be made.

A structure is usually made up of a plurality of identical members. Members of different sizes or having diiferent numbers of hooked portions may, however, be used to produce structures having certain geometric shapes.

It is obvious that, since the decorative structures made from these members may be easily put together, they may be taken apart with equal ease, by simply bending each member a little so that the interlocking notches may be disengaged from each other. Each component may then be flattened out again, so that they may be compactly stored, and subsequently used to make structures having different shapes or arrangements of color.

The material of which the members are made must be thin, flat and flexible, and, when they are used for making chandeliers, must be translucent or transparent.

The preferred materials include plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride, a complex of fiberglass and resin, plastic cloth, metal foil, wood, or laminates of these materials.

The colors and surfaces of the members may be varied, and members having different characteristics of this typ may be combined as desired.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide as new articles of manufacture, the decorative structures which can be made from these members.

For protection or isolation the structures may, in certain cases, be positioned behind sheets of transparent material, or inside sandwiches which may be used as panels in room dividers.

It is also possible to fasten the assemblies together permanently by spot welding or any other conventional fastening means.

Several embodiments of the invention will now be described, purely by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of a member according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows how two members of the type shown in FIG. 1 are fastened together;

FIG. 3 shows a closed structure made from members of the type shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a member according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the member according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 shows an assembly made from a plurality of members according to FIG. 5.

As may be seen in FIG. 1, the member according to the invention has in this case three identical hooked lobes symmetrically positioned with respect to the point 0.

Each of the hooked lobes is provided along its edge with three small notches 1, 2, 3. Notch 1 is opposite notch 2, which is itself opposite notch 3.

As may be seen on FIG. 1, the segment of the periphery of each lobe between the notches 1 and 2 of said lobe is the notches 2 and 3 of said lobe is convex.

These notches 1, 2, 3 are positioned along a line 4, shown as a broken line, which intersects the curved edge of the lobes.

In this particular case, the line 4 is curved in order to impart a curvature to the members when they have been assembled. Moreover, the distance from the notch 1 to the notch 2 is equal to the distance from the notch 2 to the notch 3.

FIG. 2 shows how two members E E of the type shown in FIG. 2 are fastened together.

The hooked lobe A of member E fits onto the hooked lobe B of member E because the notch 1 of lobe A of member =E engages notch 3 of lobe B of member E while the notch 3 of the lobe A of member E engages notch 1 of lobe B of member E with the notches 2 of lobe A of member E and of lobe B of member E engaging each other so that the members E and B are connected along the line 4, shown as a broken line in FIG.

1. The manner in which members E and E are fastened together imparts a certain curvature to them, because of the curvature of the line 4, thus making it possible to use such members to enclose a volume.

In like manner, the hooked lobe B of a third member may be fastened to the lobe A of member E and so on with fourth and fifth members. If at this time the lobe A of the fifth member is engaged with lobe B of member E the result is a sort of pentagonal ring which begins to show the curvature of the members in several directions.

At this time it is possible, by beginning with the free lobe C of member E to form with additional members, but in the same manner, a second pentagonal ring attached to the first one, which terminates at the free lobe C on the member E Then still another ring can be formed with the member E and so on as many times as possible until the structure formed in this manner becomes completely closed.

This procedure results in a hollow structure such as shown in FIG. 3. All of the surfaces of this structure are curved, which makes it especially advantageous from a decorative point of view.

One of the members E from which this structure is made has at its center a round hole 5, in which a socket may be inserted so that an electric light bulb may be positioned inside the structure. In that case, the members from which the structure is made must be transparent or translucent. P

The resulting lamp shade or chandelier is a representative example of a commercial embodiment of the invention.

If, instead of forming rings of five members, six are used each time, the result is a structure which, instead of circling on itself extends parallel to a plane and may be used for ceilings or to decorate walls.

A great number of other combinations may be made from members such as those shown in FIG. 1, especiallyv by making alternating rings of 5 and 6 members, which arrangement makes it possible to form structures of the same type as that shown in FIG. 3, but even larger, so as to produce more magnificent chandeliers.

FIG. 4 shows another example of a member according to the invention.

This member has four similar hooked lobes, A, B, C and D which are symmetrically positioned with respect to the point 0.

Members of this type may be assembled together in the same way as those of FIG. 1, but form different geometric shapes, because they have four lobes. The resulting structures still have the characteristic features of relief and curved surfaces.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a member according to the invention.

This member also comprises three hooked lobes A, B, C, positioned symmetrically about a point 0.

The notches 1 and 2 in each of the lobes A, B and C,

consist simply of sharp angles in the periphery of the member.

Each of the lobes A, B and C has a convex edge, two consecutive lobes A and B being separated by a concave edge segment positioned between the acute angles 1 and 2.

This figure also shows the broken lines 4 along which the various members are fastened together. There are, however, no sharp angles at the points 3 which correspond to the notches shown at those points in FIG. 1.

It is nevertheless possible to assemble such members in accordance with the invention, for after having engaged the notch 1 of one member with the notch 2 of an adjacent member, the points 3 on three separate members are brought together so that the angle between two of them forms a notch in which the point 3 on the third member is engaged.

Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 6.

This figure shows the member E assembled with the member E and the member E The three lobes A of the members E E and E rest on each other at the point 3, thus forming a sort of three-vaned helix, so that the lobes A of members E and E form a notch receiving the point 3 on lobe A of member E The notches 1 and 2 of the various members act in the same way as in the structures previously described.

What is claimed is:

1. A member for use in making decorative structures which consists of a thin sheet of deformable material the periphery of which is defined by a plurality of curved edge portions, some of which are convex, while others are concave, said edge portions defining a plurality of hooked lobes radiating from the center of said sheet, said edge portions being provided with a plurality of notches, the

' distance between one pair of said notches being substan tially the same as the distance between another pair of notches.

2. A member as claimed in claim 1 comprising three lobes positioned at angles of with respect to each other.

3. A member as claimed in claim 1 comprising at least one group of three notches, two of which delimit a concave edge portion While two delimit a convex edge portion, the distances between each of the notches at the end of the group and the middle notch being the same.

4. A structure composed of a plurality of members as claimed in claim 3 in which the notches delimiting a concave edge portion on one member are engaged in the notches delimiting a convex edge portion on another member.

5. A member for use in making decorative structures which consists of a thin sheet of deformable material the periphery of which is formed into a plurality of symmetrically positioned lobes delimited by a plurality of curved edge portions, some of which are convex, while other are concave, each of said concave portions being positioned between two convex edge portions and forming therewith a re-entrant angle serving as an abutment point.

6. -A structure comprising a plurality of members as claimed in claim 5 assembled together with each abutment point on one member contacting an abutment point on another member.

7. A decorative structure comprising a plurality of members made of a thin sheet of deformable material and assembled together, the edge of each of said members comprising convex segments and concave segments, at least one of said convex segments extending between a pair of notches and at least one of said concave segments extending between a pair of notches, the two notches between which each convex segment extends being spaced from each other by a distance equal to the distance separating the two notches between which each concave segment extends, the two notches of one of said convex segments of one member being in engagement with the two notches of one of the concave segments of an adjacent member.

8. Structure as claimed in claim 1 comprising at least two members each formed with a convex segment and a concave segment adjacent each other, with a single notch common to both pairs.

9. Structure as claimed in claim 8 in which the three notches of each member are aligned along a curvilinear line.

10. Structure as claimed in claim 9 in which each member comprises at least three hooked lobes symmetrically positioned about a central point.

11. Decorative structure comprising a plurality of members, each consisting of a thin sheet of deformable material comprising at least three hooked lobes radiating from the center of said sheet, each lobe having a convex peripheral edge portion and each two adjacent lobes being separated by a concave peripheral edge portion defining at its ends a sharp angle with the adjacent end of the convex peripheral edge portion of each adjacent lobe, said members being assembled together with the two sharp angles at the ends of a concave portion of one member engaging the sharp angles at the ends of the convex edge portion of one lobe of another member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,406,164 8/1946 Raisz 240-l08UX 2,446,120 7/1948 Wiswesser 3518 2,616,199 11/1952 Robins 16114 2,714,156 7/1955 Robertshaw 16136X FOREIGN PATENTS 663,258 8/1965 Belgium 240108 408,976 4/ 1934 Great Britain 240-108 633,155 12/ 1949 Great Britain 240108 PHILIP DIER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

